Tre points og videre.
En solid indsats krydret med en straffesparksscoring to minutter før tid var nok til at sikre os sejren hos Port Vale, og dermed førstepladsen i League One for en stund endnu.
Der var to ændringer i startelleveren fra udekampen mod Fleetwood, hvoraf den ene var påkrævet. På dagen måtte Marlon Pack trække sig med sygdom, og hans plads blev i stedet overtaget af debutanten Myles Peart-Harris. Derudover var der en startplads til Connor Ogilvie på bekostning af Ryley Towler. I fraværet af Marlon Pack overtog Joe Morrell anførerbindet.
Den officielle kamprapport
Eftertanken
Med to sejre i træk og uden at lukke mål er snakken om krise indtil videre forbi, men de to kampe mod Fleetwood og Port Vale har samtidig vist, at vi stadig har problemer med at score mål. Fem styk i de seneste seks kampe er minimalkost, og ikke specielt betryggende i vores bestræbelser på at fastholde en direkte oprykningsplads. Der resterer fire dage af januars transfervindue til at hente en kærkommen forstærkning til offensiven, og som det ser ud nu afhænger rigtig meget af sæsonen af, at det lykkes for os at finde en nogenlunde træfsikker angriber til at hjælpe og aflaste Colby Bishop.
Et hurtigt liga-overblik
Førstepladsen er altså stadig vores, men både Bolton og Derby hentede ligeledes pligtsejre mod hhv. Carlisle og Cheltenham, og puster os fremdeles i nakken. Peterborough derimod smed to points da de måtte nøjes med en remis ude mod Lincoln. Til gengæld tabte både Barnsley og Oxford, og især sidstnævntes form gør at det efterhånden er svært at se dem som en kandidat til top to. Netop Oxford er vores næste modstander, og med en sejr tirsdag aften kan vi reelt hægte dem endegyldigt af i topstriden.
Under stregen tabte altså både Carlisle og Cheltenham mens kriseramte Reading i det mindste fik et point hjemme mod formstærke Leyton Orient. Tabeljumboen Fleetwood førte med 2-0 hos Wycombe, og det lignede dermed den første sejr i to måneder, men to scoringer efter pausen til hjemmeholdet knuste bundholdets drømme.
Kommentarer fra head coach John Mousinho
“As the game progressed, we were able to open them up and create chance after chance. We need to be better in a lot of those moments to make sure we actually put the ball in the back of the net. But I thought that we played really well across the 90 minutes and that the victory was thoroughly deserved. There were shots that were blocked and there are times when you think it might not come, but you could see that the boys meant business and they didn’t let their heads drop. I thought that it was a proper tackle from Conor Shaughnessy in the middle of the pitch and then it looked like a stonewall penalty, so it was a great decision. Colby had a few minutes to think about the penalty and what happened a couple of weeks ago, so it showed real mettle to pick the ball up and then put it in the back of the net. There was then an unsavoury incident with a fan going for the referee and I’m glad that he was able to get out the way. We don’t want to see things like that. It was tough to deal with the late barrage and we naturally sat deeper for the final few minutes, but we defended well and I’m proud of the way we saw the game out.”
Et par ord fra Conor Shaughnessy
“It wasn’t a foul by me. It was a solid tackle and I won the ball. I don’t think their player had any complaints. Obviously it all kicked off after that, but it looked like a penalty to me. The ref has got those decisions right. I don’t think they can really feel hard done by because we’ve dominated the game from start to finish. It was crazy with the fan coming onto the pitch and that’s something that we don’t want to see happen.”
“It took us more than 80 minutes to break them down, but we’d performed pretty well throughout the game. We looked the much stronger side and it’s massive to come away with the win, as well as another clean sheet. It’s a long season and you’re not going to play perfect football all the time – sometimes it will come down to those scrappier wins.”
League One, Vale Park, 27. januar 2024
Port Vale – Portsmouth 0-1 (0-0)
88. minut: 0-1 Colby Bishop (straffespark)
Opstillingen (4-2-3-1): Norris; Devlin, Shaughnessy, Raggett, Ogilvie (Sparkes ‘61); Lowery, Morrell (anfører); Kamara, Peart-Harris, Lane (Martin ‘82); Bishop (Towler ‘90+3)
På bænken: Macey, Whyte, Scully, Saydee, Sparkes, Martin og Towler
Advarsler: Lane og Lowery
Udvisning: Ingen
Tilskuere: 8.068, heraf 1.791 medrejsende Pompey supportere
Interview efter kampen med John Mousinho
Interview med Connor Ogilvie
Kampens Højdepunkter
